bartlett



2 Sheets' She.et 1.

(No Model.)

Lfs. BARTLETT.

HAT TRAY A Patented July-L, 1890.

Ill

77527122 532'3 fivmzw azz in/Z14 (No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

L. S.- BARTLETT.

HAT TRAY.

N0. 431,-503f Patented July 1., 1890.

an elastic supportfor the hats, and holding and Fig. 5 a View in perspective of the im- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

LEROY S. BARTLETT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES \V. I-IOLTOAMP, OF SAME PLACE.

HAT-T RAY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Application filed March 24, 1890.

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, LEROY S. BARTLETT, of St. Louis, Missouri,have made anew and useful Improvement in Hat-Sample Trays, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention has for its object an improved tray whereby stiff felt hats and analogous articles can be transported with less liability to injury than with the means hitherto in use has been practicable. I

The invention is carried out by means of a tray open at its top, and also preferably open at its bottom, and having a system of straps and rods extending crosswise therein between the top and bottom of the tray and serving as them not only against dislodgment by reason of any position in which the tray may be placed or by reason of shocks imparted to the tray, but also in a manner to prevent them from being abraded. At'the same time the hats can at will bereadily placed in and withdrawn from the tray, and altogether so that sample hats in a hatters establishment can be taken out-0f stock, put in one of these improved trays, carried out on the road, transported from place to place, repeatedly exhibited, and finally, at the end of the commercial travelers trip, turned back again into stock in perfect order, and thereby avoiding a loss on sample hats amounting in most wholesale houses to many thousand dollars yearly.

I do not broadly claim a hat-sample tray h ving straps for holding hats therein; but my invention consists more especially in the combination of transverse straps and rods and the longitudinal strap, and in other mi nor features, all substantially as is hereinafter set forth and claimed, aided by the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of the improved tray; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section thereof; Fig. 3 a transverse section thereof; Fig. 4, a detail, being a view illustrating the preferable mode of uniting the cross-rods with the tray-wall;

proved tray.

Patent No. 431,503, dated July 1, 1890.

Serial No. 345,134. (No model.)

The same letters of reference denote the Same parts.

The tray Ais usually of arectangular form, substantially as shown, in order that one or several of them in combination may be fitted to an ordinary trunk, and the improvement is best carried out when the walls a a of the tray come snugly against the walls of the trunk, (not shown,) whereby the cross-rods B of the tray can be utilized also for bracing the trunk-walls, as well as for other purposes presently described. O 0 represent straps extending across the tray below its top, in practice about an inch below the tray-top, and sufficiently to enable the entire brim d of the hatD to come below the tray-top. The tray is usually large enough to contain sev-- eral compartments E E, &c., to hold, respectively, several hats. Each compartment has a pair of thecross-straps O O. The straps are attached at their ends to the tray-walls a a, and they are composed of some textile fabric or other equivalent material adapted to yield and accommodate itself to the shape of the hat-crown d when the hat is placed between the straps-that is, the straps O O are spaced apart a distance somewhat less than the diameter of the crown, and hence the straps when the hat is inserted are wedged somewhat apart, and the central portions of the straps in consequence bear against a considerable surface of the hat-crown, and the hat is held in place in the direction of the length of the tray and also in the direction crosswise thereto. The straps O O are attached to the tray preferably so that when free they are turned flatwise; but when the hat is inserted between the straps that portion of the straps which comes incontact with the hat-crown is turned into a vertical positionthat is, the straps assume a twisted o shape, as shown.

If it is desired to more elfectuallyconfine the hat transversely in the tray, auxiliary straps F F may be extended longitudinally in the tray, and respectively to come against the opposite 5 sides (in the direction of the width of the tray) of the hat -crown, substantially as shown; but the elements which more especially coact with the straps G O in holding the hat are the longitudinally-extended strap G and the crossrods B B. The strap G is attached at its ends, respectively, to the end walls a a of the tray, and after the hat or hats are placed in position between the straps O O the strap G is drawn beneath the cross-rods B B and above the hat, substantially as shown. The cross-rods serve to hold the strap G down in place, and the strap G in turn holds the hat or hats down in place. In practicethe strap G is made in parts g g, which, after the hats are inserted between the straps O O, can be tightened upon the hats and be united by means of the buckle g The strap G is usually of some textile fabric. The rods B B are metallic. By this means the hats can be securely but elastically held in position inthe tray, and every part which comes immediately in contact with the hats is presented thereto, so as to distribute its strain over an extended surface of the hat and so as not to abrade 0r mar it. Other straps H H may be extended across the tray toward the bottom thereof to guard the hats from moving downward too far. The straps F F pass over and rest upon the rods B B and pass beneath the hat brims, as shown.

ranged centrally in the tray, and between the rods B B bears upon the hat-brim. In prac- The strap G is ar- 1 tice two or more hats can be and are nested in each compartment E E, &c. This is an advantage, aside from thus increasing the carrying capacity of the tray, for when two or more hats are thus nested their combined crowns present a stronger resistance to the pressure exerted by the straps O C. The

tionthe straps 0, extending across and a little below the top for supporting the hat-brim,

the bracing cross-rods B, and the longitudinal strap G, attached at its ends, respectively,

to the end walls of the tray and adapted to be drawn beneath the cross-bars and above the hat, all substantially as set forth. 2. A sam ple-hat tray having the cross-straps O, situated a little below the top, with the central longitudinal buckled strap Gfor hearing upon the hat-brim, and the guard-straps H, extended across the tray toward the bottom, substantially as described.

Witness my hand this 21st day of LEROY S. BARTLETT.

Witnesses: I

O. D. Moonv, B. F. REX.

March, 

